4 Predictions for WWE Raw: January 16, 2017

This week’s WWE Raw is headlined by the return of Brock Lesnar. What can we expect to see from the Beast Incarnate and the rest of the roster on tonight’s show?

Tonight’s WWE Raw takes place at the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, AR. The name of the venue is appropriate considering so much of the roster will be looking to send a message as the Royal Rumble draws closer. With all this message sending, they better hope the Verizon Center has service as good as it should.

Bad jokes aside, tonight’s Raw will continue what has been a fairly uneventful build toward the Royal Rumble. Raw has been showing its weak spots more than usual lately with the main event of each episode feeling like the same thing over and over. But at least last week had a different result.

Instead of Roman Reigns’ theme song blaring through the arena at the end of the night, it was Chris Jericho’s theme that serenaded the fans as the show went off the air. With Jericho now United States Champion, what can we expect out of Team Kevin and Chris? We’ve made our predictions regarding them and other superstars in this week’s Raw Predictions.

Brock Lesnar Destroys Somebody (Or Everybody)

He’s back. Following his 86-second loss to Goldberg at Survivor Series, Brock Lesnar finally makes his return tonight on Raw. But what is the Beast Incarnate going to do on the flagship show? He never wrestles, he barely speaks, but one thing he does do well is hurt people. That, and bounce around menacingly while Paul Heyman talks. But that’s besides the point.

Coming off the loss to Goldberg, Lesnar should be fuming. He’s no stranger to hurting innocent bystanders as we saw when he F5’d a camera man in 2015 and was subsequently suspended. Tonight we could see more of the same. Perhaps not with a camera man, but with a superstar or multiple superstars.

Lesnar should be in a mood where he wants to crush anything that walks. Whether that’s R-Truth, Darren Young, The Shining Stars (please, please be The Shining Stars), or someone else, we’re bound to see some destruction tonight. With Lesnar set to enter the Rumble, he’ll want to make a statement. Just because he lost to Goldberg doesn’t change the fact that he is a beast. We know that, but does the rest of the roster feel the same way? Either way, the beast is back. And he’s angrier than ever.

Emmalina Debuts

We’re going to include Emmalina’s debut in our predictions once every couple weeks and hope that eventually we’re finally right. It seems like forever that we’ve been waiting for Emmalina’s debut. And it has left us in a cloud of confusion and for some, apathy regarding her return.

Emma had a great gimmick as the tough Australian girl who could rip someone’s head off, aka Evil Emma. Now she’s turning into a model? Until she returns, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense because nobody knows how it’s going to work. Is she going to say she went to some spa and it really opened her eyes? Is she just messing with us? What’s going on here?

No matter what happens, she just needs to debut soon. It’s getting to the point where a lot of the interest that once existed regarding her debut is simply gone. It’s taking too long. It feels exactly like when Fandango refused to wrestle because the ring announcer couldn’t pronounce his name right. People got tired of it because it just needed to happen already. That is the case with Emmalina, and we’re hoping it is finally resolved tonight,

Chris Jericho Unveils the Canadian Championship

No, this would not be the first time it has happened. Lance Storm once put Canadian flags over the title and call it the Canadian title. But that was ages ago, and there has never been a better time for WWE to revert back that tactic and have Jericho call it the Canadian championship.

Jericho obviously thinks Canada is better since he insults every state he goes to and has nothing but good things to say about his native Canada. Having Jericho be so cocky as to change the name (in his mind at least) of the title to the Canadian Championship would be perfect for him. It would also be really funny assuming it was executed as such, but with Jericho and Owens around, you really never have to worry about humor being satisfied.

This is the most classic heel thing to do. It’s almost to the point where it’s so obvious that people would cheer for it rather than boo the fact that he didn’t like the old name because it referenced the United States, a place Y2J has been in for 99% of his WWE touring career. Jericho will not want to represent America, so don’t be surprised if the U.S. title tomorrow night has a giant red leaf taped right over it.

Bayley and Sasha Banks Gain the Upper Hand

Bayley and Sasha Banks did not have a good time last week. After being destroyed backstage by Charlotte and Nia Jax, the duo demanded a match despite the injuries they suffered. This led to a devastating loss for Bayley and Banks. But it’s something they’ll both likely build off of as we head into tonight’s Raw.

One thing we know about WWE is no one has the upper hand for long during a feud. Both superstars are going to get their time to shine before the blowoff to the feud finally occurs. With Charlotte and Nia Jax getting their time last week, now Bayley and Banks will have to see what they can do.

Both women need momentum right now. Bayley has a title match against Charlotte at the Royal Rumble so she can’t continue getting rag dolled like a baby all over the ring. As for Banks, her knee is what’s holding her back, but she needs to get some offense in regardless. Jax has dominated “The Boss” for weeks now, so despite the knee injury, it’s time for Banks to get hers. We’re expecting her and Bayley to respectively get back some momentum as they go face-to-face with their aggressors on tonight’s Raw.